In the "Cell Phone Service Overall" ratings in the prepaid category, TracFone is scored by Consumer Reports #1 at 82 percent consumer satisfaction, Straight Talk is #2 at 78 percent, and Net10 is #5 at 75 percent. By comparison, the major contract-based cell phone providers Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T all scored worse on consumer satisfaction.

TracFone officials said that they are delighted by this new evidence from the respected Consumer Reports organization that no-contract cell phone service is the way to go for smart consumers.

One TracFone official noted that if there is one thing Consumer Reports might have done differently it would have been to add switching to prepaid wireless as one of the major cost-saving recommendations for consumers.

The TracFone spokesperson noted that if a TracFone, Straight Talk or Net10 customer is happier than a contract-based cell phone consumer who is paying two or three times more for the same service and also facing a hefty contract cancellation fee, then there is no logical reason for most phone consumers to rule out the no-contract option.

The full text of the Consumer Reports article is available online at http://www.consumerreports.org. The magazine's findings were based on a survey of more than 66,000 ConsumerReports.org subscribers.